Every Gym’s Nightmare

I can barely lift my arms right now.

Today was the first day of P90X and Holy Crap, my triceps are toast.

I’m going to mainly be writing about the program, the set up, how it works, whats included, how effective it is, etc, etc, etc on www.twirlit.com, so make sure you remember to check it out there. Ill give you guys a heads up on here, though, and on Twitter (follow me) when the posts go live, because while they will be weekly, they probably wont post on the same day everyday.

If you guys have any questions whatsoever about the program, I really encourage you to leave them in the comment section ON TWIRLIT. Like I said, Ill let you know when they go live.

OK, I’m so tired I can barely think straight right now. I gotta go eat something and take a nap. But, yeah, first impression of P90X? I’m going to be effin’ ripped, and effin’ tired.

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Hi Kelly,
I worked w/a trainer for about 6 months – saw SOME progress, but not as much as I would want/expect. I quit b/c I was buying a house & didn’t have the extra funds any more. BUT, I have gained about 10# since starting a new job so need to get back to it.
I struggle with time management. Like you, I am NOT a morning exercise person. I also don’t do well when left to my own schedule – I do better with scheduled classes, etc. HOWEVER, it seems like LIFE gets in the way & I miss more of those scheduled classes than I attend sometimes.
I let my gym membership expire but have been going to classes at a yoga studio (LOVE!) when I can. Of course it’s not enough at this point. I just turned 41, and I have at least 50# to lose overall.
Any suggestions on how to fit exercise into my already busy schedule?
Looking forward to reading more of your blog!

Thanks,
Jean Love

This is a harder question than I usually answer, because it has less to do with the science of how your body reacts to fitness and more to do with motivation, which is all in your head. Its not so much about finding the time (you know your daily schedule and if you had a random 2 hours of nothing to do you it would be obvious to you you could use that to work out) its about MAKING the time.

Life getting in the way is an excuse. Everyone has a life, and while they may very a bit, everyone is busy. I work 5:15-12:00 as a trainer, come home and write an average of 4 articles a day, blog, grocery shop for clients, which takes me to about 5 pm, sometimes later, so I basically work 12 hours a day. I don’t even consider myself on of the busiest: I have a short commute, and I don’t even have kids which are a huge a time suck- yet I work out almost every day. I know mommies that work out almost everyday while having families to take care of. Busy executives, people that work the night shift, double shifts- I know many of them that work out consistently. I know people that hold down full time jobs and have families still train hours a day for marathon s and triathlons. My point is, everyone has to deal with life- the difference is, these people make working out a priority. Its nonnegotiable. So how do you get to this point?

Dave Fannin has a great blog for his gym in Texas, and he writes about this kind of stuff a lot. He’s pretty no-nonsense/no excuses which is what is needed when it comes to motivation, so Im going to be linking to him a lot in the rest of my answer.

You need to make working out a priority. It needs to be a To Do item, and not a To Do If I Have Time item. The best way to do this is work out in the morning, and get it out of the way. You say you aren’t a morning exercise person, nor am I, but I have the luxury of not being one: I still fit in my workouts. If you don’t fit them in later, you have to become a morning exerciser. The good news is, you can totally do this. Here’s one of Dave’s articles on how to actually get up early, and here’s an article about freeing up more time within your day to exercise if you absolutely can’t.

So now you have the time, but a workout isn’t going to help you if you don’t actually go. The only way you are going to get out of the house and to your workout is if you love your workout. You love yoga, which gets you there more often than anything else, but you need weights and cardio. You said you work best with appointments, so if you have the funds, get another trainer that you really like. If that’s too expensive for you, get a gym membership that offers a lot of classes. Classes and group workouts are going to be more motivating for a lot of reasons.

You also need to set some clear goals. If you dont have a vision of what you want to do, there isn’t going to be anything that will pull you into the gym, even when you dont want to go (which is going to happen.) Here is a list of 50 reasons to never miss a workout, but you are also going to need to set concrete goals just for you. You want to lose 50 pounds, which is great, but thats not a very motivating goal, since its not specific. This post will teach you how to set realistic and motivating goals.

I know that’s a lot of reading, but that’s because motivation is something you have to teach yourself. No one is just naturally motivated to work out. Some people may seem that way, but its just because they know the importance of working out and how it makes them feel, so its a no brainer to take a break and get sweating. You can be one of those people, too, you just need to find a way to enjoy it.

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Hi Kelly,
Long story short, I am trying to lose about 10-15 pounds. I am 29 years old, 5ft 7in, and about 135. I have been at and maintained at 120-125 in the past and am just looking to get back into my clothes comfortably and feel good about myself again! I am currently eating about 1500-1700 calories per day and working out about 4-5 days a week, at least 45 min of cardio, either a kickboxing class, or treadmill runs, and I try to do one strength training day per week (this is my weak area). I have been doing this schedule for about a month with literally no weight loss. I am, in fact, upset to say that the scale today said 4 pounds heavier than last week. I spoke to a trainer today who implied that somehow I am eating more than I am burning, but I’m not sure how that is really possible, as I am being really prudent and trying really hard to stay in my range, and most calorie counters I have seen say this is a good range for losing about 1/2 pound a week for my stats. The only thing that is not healthy in my life is the fact that I have a really crap job that requires me to get up super early (315 am) and I generally live on about 5 hours of sleep a night. I do take daily naps of about 1-2 hours during breaks in my schedule, but I cant really get to bed any earlier because of a volunteer job I have in the evenings. Is the lack of sleep really causing me to not only not lose weight but GAIN it, despite my serious efforts to lose weight? I am desperate and really need help. I appreciate anything you can tell me to point me in the right direction.

Sincerely,
Misty

There can be about a million things going on, but the ones that really stick out to me are these:

4 pounds is kind of negligible- I know it doesnt sound like it but your weight fluctuates about 5 pounds a day, so you might have had too much salt, may be on or near your period, drank a ton of water or just havent digested your food yet. I find it hard to believe that if you are eating what you say you are, and working out as much as you are, that that is fat gain. highly doubtful, so relax about that. itll probably disappear soon.

You’ve only been working out with this program (i say that meaning the specifics you stated above, not an actual program) for a month. I dont know if you were working out before, but if not, or if onloy a little bit, its going to take a while for your body to catch up. I know a month seems like a long time, but when you start something new with your body sometimes it reacts in weird ways. I would give it a few more weeks of consistently doing what you have been doing, and i wouldnt be surprised if you see some results.

You’re getting older. I know, no body kill me, 29 is NOT old, but you are getting oldER and your body changes. It can’t maintain the weight it used to as easily, your metabolism starts to slow, so you have to make sure you are being realistic. The good news is, you can speed up your metabolism by…

Add more strength training. You said yourself you know you aren’t doing enough, and strength training is essential to making sure your metabolism is running at its highest. Muscle burns more calories at rest, so the more you have of it on your body, the more calories you are going to scorch. try and fit in about 3 days a of strength training, with weights, a week.

Lack of sleep will slow down your metabolism, so you should really try and get as much as you can. Im really no one to talk, I get about 5 hours a night because my schedule is a lot like yours, but it really is important. Your body grows stronger while you rest, so to get the most from your workouts, you need your rest. People also say that lack of sleep produces cortisol, which causes you to gain weight around your middle, so if thats what you are referring to, it just means that you are more likely to gain weight- you still have to consume more calories than you are burning to gain weight.

Add more weights, and give it a little time, and Im sure you’ll start seeing results.

I reviewed The Skinny on Willpower book on Twirlit.com, and so the company sent me a new Skinny On book, The Skinny on Success, Why not You? I really like these books for a lot of reasons. One- they are super easy reads put in a comic book style format so you can breeze right through them (I read this one in 2 cardio sessions). Two- they are funny. Little stick figure Jim Randel (the author) pops up into other stick figures’ lives offering advice based on their issues and the topic of the book, much to their surprise and often annoyance. Its corny but it knows its corny so its endearing. Three- they aren’t preachy. They are basically self help books, but they offer strategies and real advice as opposed to just telling you “you can do it!” “believe in yourself!” This book is real: it tells you the road to success is going to be hard, you are going to fail a lot and its going to take a ton of work- but it’ll be worth it.

I liked The Skinny on Willpower and gave it a good review. I LOVED The Skinny on Success, though, for two huge reasons: it gave me validation and it gave me an epiphany.

The book follows a couple, Billy and Beth, both on their route to success. Billy, a cocky stick figure, hates his accounting job and wants to be a comedian. He is over confident and convinced he has the talent, and that his success will just come- with no work. Jim Randel, his new neighbor, pops up to talk some sense into him. Jim tries to get it through to him that success is about 5% talent and 95% persistence, dedication and practice. Beth, the other half of the couple, is the opposite. She runs for a seat in local politics, and loses. She is under confident and scared to run again. Jim tries to get it through to her that you have to fail in order to reach success and that many of the people that seem to be overnight successes have actually been working and failing for years. It offers real-life examples, including President Obama, Steve Martin, Jay Leno, and gives your real strategies to use on your own journey.

So here are where my 2 huge take aways come in.

There is one section of the book that talks about actually deciding what you want to do with your life, and asks a few questions:

What are you doing when you lose track of time during the day?
What are you doing when you feel energized?
What are you doing when you can focus for long periods of time?

These questions solidified that I am indeed doing what I love in life for a living. I lose track of time at work and can focus and feel energized when I write and when I work out. Fitness, writing (and fitness writing) are my career, and its what I love doing. It just validated for me that I am on the right track and that I am indeed happy, as well as lucky that I was able to figure it out so young. I hear people all day long complain about having to go to work, or how slow the clock moves- most of the time I run over during sessions because I lose track or will be at home plugging away on some articles, look up and its 3 hours later. Sometimes when I have a good article idea, I can’t wait to get home and get started on it. I love what I do.

The second takeaway is the biggest one, and I’m not even sure if I am going to be able to explain it properly. I am 22 (23 at the end of the month) and have already achieved so many things in my career. I’ve been published in magazines, write for successful websites, have an AMAZING opportunity to work with a fitness company that is going to send me all over the world (yeah, I haven’t told you about that yet, but I will when the ink is dry- you might even be able to come with me!) but I’m never satisfied. Whenever I land a huge contract, I am content for maybe, 5 minutes, and then want more. I continue to send out letters, use my contacts, search craigslist, etc- I always want something bigger and better. I’ve always been torn between whether or not this is a bad thing. I could never figure out if this is me being selfish, or ungrateful, or if this is me being motivated and driven. I go back and forth. I always wonder if I ever will be comfortable, or content, or ever be able to just relax and work within what I have and be thankful for it, or if I will always be…restless. This doesn’t mean I take jobs and then soon move on, I am a very loyal worker, but I always want something bigger and better to work towards, and am always pushing for it.

There was a certain section in the book that talks about personality traits of the biggest success stories, and this one stuck out to me:

“Are you someone with a “rage to master?” Do you have a burning desire to succeed? Do you want to be the best of the best at what you do? Some people are quite happy stepping off the ladder of success after just a few rungs. Others won’t be happy until they reach the top.”

This is me. I’m not ungrateful or dissatisfied with my work, I just love it and want to do more of it on a bigger greater scale. I have a rage to master. Everyone knows the internet, and especially blogging and writing, is an avenue for people to get “famous” and gather a cult-like following for doing barely anything of value, but I don’t want that. I just want to share what I know, and if it can help people, I’m happy. The bigger of an audience I reach, the better my chances of helping, and that’s why I am restless.

This book is one I’m going to check back to often. Its already dog-eared and written in, and I’ve only read it once. I want my own little Jim Randel to follow me around and give me helpful tidbits of info when I’m in a bad spot, or help me rationalize things instead of just reacting. Who knows, maybe one day if I keep plugging away, he’ll ask me to help him write a Skinny on Fitness book. But if not, no worries, I’ll take the rejection and move on, because that is what success is all about.

GIVEAWAYS!

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Hi Kelly,

thanks,
Jenny

Usually I edit these to make them concise, but i left this one as is, because I think all the parts are important.

The biggest things that stick out to me is unrealistic expectations and over training.

Over training first: you are working out too hard. The only people that need to work out this hard/often are athletes, and even then, their workouts are sports specific. You are pushing your body too hard for too long too often, and its rebelling. Its scared of you, in a sense. When you make your body work that hard, even if you eat enough calories, its not going to respond. You will be able to get through your workouts, but all your processes (metabolism, calorie burn, muscle growth) are going to slow because if it kept up with how hard you were working out, it would lose weight too quickly, causing toxins to build, your muscles and organs would begin to metabolize themselves for fuel (eat themselves) and your bones and connective tissues won’t be strong enough to support your muscle growth. You need to cut it back- especially the cardio. If you drop it down, probably in duration first, you’ll notice a difference.

Expectations: You said you know you dont eat or exercise healthily, and this is pretty apparent. You are as close to being addicted to exercise as you can be (you get nervous when you skip a workout, obsessively cutting out fat grams) 108 is NOT a healthy weight for you. You aren’t going to be able to get to that weight through healthy eating and exercise. 10 pounds is probably doable from where you are now, but it doesn’t sound like you are going to be satisfied when you get there. You CANT workout 7 days a week, your body needs time to rest- especially when you are pushing yourself so hard. Its going to give out on you. You are going to get injuries, and possibly illnesses from it. More is not always better when it comes to your body.

You have to cut yourself a break- working out shouldn’t be your life, and especially not everyday.
Cut back, and you’ll see results, but only as far as is healthy for your body.

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I got a ton of great responses when I posed the vegan/vegetarian question, but then my editor moved up the deadline on the post so I couldnt actually use any of your guys’ response, but I thought you would still be interested in what I wrote anyway- and as always, your opinions are greatly appreciated. There. Not here. Well, here too, but please comment on that article.

Do Vegan Fad Diets Cheapen the Vegan Lifestyle?

Im excited!

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As you probably know, I am the Fitness Expert (their title, not mine) for www.Twirlit.com. With that comes some perks, like getting free products to review and giveaway. I think I just got my biggest one, which hopefully leads to more.

I’m going to be doing the P90X program, and reviewing it, along with posting my progress the whole way. I’ve wanted to do it ever since I saw the informercial, but am a cheap biatch and wont shell out the dough. Its an intense 90-day series of DVDs designed to shred you. Its killer, which what drew me in, but as long as you follow it, they say you’ll get ridic results.

Im thinking we are going to do weekly updates, but we haven’t gotten it all hammered out yet. If it’s not weekly, Ill be doing my updates here, with monthly at Twirlit so either way you’ll get to see how its coming along.

Im going to do a full assessment and then another at the end of the 90 days. Probably some before and after pictures, too.

But I wanted to ask you guys:

Anyone done it before? Anything I should know before i start?

What do you guys want to see? (before and after photos, stats, videos of exercises, etc.)

I’m hoping this turns into a recurring thing, like a cloumn (which I will probably ask you to name again, lol)- instead of (or in addition to) reviewing fitness products I can review fitness programs and classes for intensity, results, versatility, safety, etc.

Ill let you guys know when it all goes down, but it should be pretty soon!

Maybe I can weasel myself some Crossfit classes next….

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Hi Kelly,

Becca

This one is easy and hard. Easy because you know what is causing it, but hard because Im not going to be able to tell you what it is- but I can give you some possibilities.

Without knowing your workout routine, I am going to assume you are doing impact (walking, running, lunges, jumps, squats or anything where there is pounding on your feet.) I like to think of impact exercises like taking a hammer and hitting yourself on the bottom of the foot over and over again. That’s going to cause some pain.

Some people are susceptible to foot pain, and some aren’t, so if your feet dont hurt- its not a gauge of how hard you work out or anything, just be thankful.

There are a lot of possibilities, some minor, some major, so to know for sure, you are going to have to see a doctor.

Arch pain could be a tightness of tendons or calf muscles, so stretching after you workout will help a lot of that. You can also use a roller to work out the kinks. I had arch pain for about 2 weeks, so I rolled it on a rolling pin (which hurt really bad, but thats how i knew it was working) and stretched my calves more than usual. It might also be insufficient support, but if you got your stuff checked out at the shoe place i would bet on tightness.

Foot pain can be even more things. Sometimes your body just gets mad at you and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it- chalk it up to your feet being tired. Your shoes could also be too small which crams your feet into your shoes so they dont move naturally.

More seriously, you could have stress fractures, which is where you get tiny cracks in the most superficial part of your bone, which only rest and calcium can fix. There is another thing called plantar fasciitis which is swelling in the soft bottom part of your foot- usually the heel, but sometimes the ball. Its usually worse in the morning and will decrease as you use your foot more through out the day. The treatment for that ranges anywhere from anti-inflammatories to surgery, which only your doctor can tell you.

I’d rest up and take it easy, maybe ice a bit and stretch and see if it decreases. If not, then head to the doctor.

GIVEAWAYS!!!
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